Railway diamond crossing.



No. 764,726. PATENTED JULY 12, 1904. A. B. INGRAM& T. HEARD. RAILWAYDIAMOND CROSSING! APPLICATION FILED 00111 905,

N0 MODEL.

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w I, .H w M a ,0 a 74 Z M I Patented July 12, 1904.

PATENT EETCE.

ANDREI/V B. INGRAM AND THOMAS HEARD, OF ST. THOMAS,

ONTARIO,

RAILWAY DIAMOND CROSSING- CANADA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 764,726, dated July 12,1904.

Application filed October 16, 1903.

To all 1072/0711 13/; may concern:

Be it known that we, ANDREW B. INGRAM, gentleman, and THOMAS HEARD,patternmaker, of the city of St. Thomas, in the county of Elgin,Province of Ontario, Canada, have jointly invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Railway Diamond Crossings, of which the followingis a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in railway diamond crossings,or,in other words, improvements in the construction of a rail. way atthe point where two tracks intersect, whether at right angles or at anyotherangle; and the objects of our invention are to provide a cheap andsimple construction over which the traflic may pass with absolutely nojar or shaking on either of the intersecting tracks, further objectsbeing to avoid the necessity of cutting notches or slots in the rails topermit of the passage of the wheel-flanges, to avoid the necessity ofconstant supervision, labor, repairs, and renewals, as are required inthe present construction of crossings of this kind, and to make theconstruction such that the complete diamond may be constructed and setup and tested as to its operation in the shops before being sent to theplace where it is to be used; and it consists, essentially, of theordinary rails crossing each other at any angle, openings through therails being formed at the four corners of the diamond where the railswould intersect, the said openings being in the direction of thediagonals of the diamond, auxiliary splice-rails, and suitable mechanismadapted to be operated to automatically introduce the splice-rails intothe openings in one pair of the intersecting rails, whereby a continuoustrack without break or notch is formed in one direction, and meanswhereby the auxiliary splice-rails may be removed from the tracks insaid first-mentioned direction and other auxiliary splicerails insertedin the openings in the tracks running in the other direction, suitablestops being provided for limiting the motion of said auxiliaryrail-pieces, so as to bring them absolutely in register with the railsof which they are to form parts, the various parts of the device beingconstructed and arranged in Serial No. 177,321. (No model.)

detail, as hereinafter more particularly described.

Figure 1 represents a perspective view of our invention. Fig. 2 is adetail view of two of the auxiliary splice-rail pieces and part of themechanism for operating the same. Fig. 3 is a detail of one of thestops. Fig. i is an alternative form of the construction of the deviceto be hereinafter referred to.

In the drawings like letters of reference indicate corresponding partsin each figure.

A A are the rails of the track running in one direction.

A A are the rails of the track which intersects with the first-mentionedtrack.

B represents the ties or sleepers for the rails A A, and B representsthe ties or sleepers for the rails A A O is a base or bed plate which isprovided for the support of the structure. This bedplate may be made ina number of difierent ways. For example, it might be made of cement orconcrete, as shown in Fig. 4:, or, as shown in Fig. 1. it might be madeof a sheet or plate of metal. For the purpose of drainage grooves orslots 0 may be formed in the base. The ends of the rails A A A A extenda short distance onto the base or bed plate O and are rigidly securedthereto by spikes, rivets, or other suitable means, and their ends arebeveled off in the direction of the diagonals of the diamond.

a a a a are four rail-sections which form the sides of the diamond orsquare. The ends of these sections are also beveled off in the directionof the diagonals of the diamond and at such a distance as to leaveopenings between the outer beveled ends of these central sections andthe inner beveled ends of the rails.

D is a beam or sliding carrier which extends diagonally across thediamond or square formed by the intersecting tracks and passes throughthe openings or notches E E formed by the break in the continuity of therails at the corners of the diamond. This sliding carrier is preventedfrom side motion by the longitudinal guides F F, secured to the base'andextending beside the sliding carrier D.

D is a second diagonally-disposed sliding IOO carrier having a raisedcentral portion (Z, which passes over the carrier D and through guides ff secured to the guides F F. The outer ends of the carrier D rest uponthe base 0 and are adapted to slide in the openings or slots E E at theother two corners of the diamond.

G G G G are four removable splicing rails. the splicing-rails G and Gbeingsecured to or formed integral with the carrier D and located inproximity to the opposite ends thereof and the splicing-rails G and Gbeing secured to or formed integral with the carrier Dand located nearthe opposite ends thereof. These splicing-rails G G G? are placed on thecarriers D and D at such an angle that when the carriers are moveddiagonally to the proper position the splicing-rails will fill the fourbreaks in the rails A A", thereby establishing the continuity of therails A A, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the train can pass the crossingon these tracks without the perception of any more jar than is felt at ajuncture between the ordinary rails.

To the opposite ends of the carriers D and D are secured, respectively,a second series of auxiliary splicing-rails G Gr G G and thesesplicing-rails are located at such an angle and are of such shape andarrangement as to fill the breaks in the rails A and A when the carriersare moved diagonally with respect to the diamond t0 the proper position.It may here be noted that the auxiliary splicing-rails G G G are broughtinto position to establish the continuity of the rails A and A. Thesplicing-pieces G G G G will be simultaneously removed from theirposition, as shown in the drawings, thereby leaving the openings in therails A A", which. will permit of the passage of the fianges of thewheels running on the tracks A A.

We have further devised a simple means whereby the carriers D and D areoperated simultaneously, and this consists in a connecting-bar H, whichis pivotally secured to the carrier D at its opposite end, preferably bymeans of a bolt it, which passes through a slot it, and a turnbuckle kis provided intermediate of the ends of this connecting-bar H, wherebythe length thereof may be adjusted. The length of this bar having beenadjusted and the position of the auxiliary splicing-rails on thecarriers D and D having been properly arranged, it will be seen thatwhen the carrier D is drawn in the direction indicated by the arrowthereon by any suitable device, such as a switch-lever or the likeattached to the bar (Z, the continuity of the rails A and A will beestablished, and when the reverse operation takes place the continuityof the rails A A will be established. In order to make sure that theauxiliary splicing-rails register properly with the rails A A A A wehave provided the stops I 11 1 These stops are of the form shown in Fig.3

and are adapted to be secured in a suitable manner to the base (1 and tooverlap the flanges of the rails, their beveled edges 2' 2 being adaptedto suitably limit the motion of the auxiliary splicing-pieces. Thesestops further serve the purpose of holding down rigidly the inner endsof the rails and the central connecting-rails, and their inner endsextend over and serve as guides for the slidable carriers.

Referring now .to Fig. 4, an alternative form is here shown, in whichthe base C is formed of cement, and in this construction of the device agroove 0 is formed for the carrier D to slide in, and, further, thisgroove and the carrier are slightly wider than the opening in the rails,so that the edges of the carrier slide beneath the rails, as shown at 2.

It will now beseen that we have devised an extremely convenient railwaydiamond crossing which does away with the jar and shaking which has beenan essential part of such crossings in the past and which also does awaywith the consequent wear and tear on the construction and therolling-stock. The device is of a permanent nature and may be completelyconstructed and tested in the railway-shops before it is set in place.By means of the turnbuckle and connecting-bar extending between thecarriers it will be seen that an absolute adjustment of the relativepositions 01": the two carriers may be obtained, whereby thesplicing-pieces will he brought correctly into register with the rails.

It is to be understood that the splicingpieces are not to be made ofsuch a tight fit as to entirely fill up the breaks in the rails, but theusual allowance will be made for contraction and expansion due to changein temperature. It is further to be understood. that we do not wish tolimit ourselves when putting our device into practical use to the actualform of the various parts as herein shown and described; but we wish tobe able to make such departures therefrom which would lie within thescope of mechanical skill and would not involve a departure from thespirit of our invention.

WVhat we claim as our invention is- 1. In a device of the classdescribed the combination with the intersecting rails havingdiagonally-extending openings therein at the angles of intersection, ofa pair of diagonallydisposed sliding carriers, auxiliary rail-splicingpieces on said carriers, a connecting-bar pivotally secured at its endsto the two sliding carriers, means for operating said carriers to bringone set of splicing-pieces into the four openings of the railsrunning inone direction and means for operating said carriers to remove saidsplicing-pieces and introduce the other set of splicing-pieces into theopenings in the rails running in the other direction as and for thepurpose specified.

2. In a device of the class described the combination with theintersecting rails having diagonally-extending openings therein at theangles of intersection, of a pair of diagonallydisposed slidingcarriers, guides between which said carriers are adapted to slide, a setof auxiliary splicing-pieces secured near the ends of said carriers andadapted to fill the openings in the rails running in one direction and aset of splicing-pieces secured near the ends of said carriers andadapted to fill the openings in the rails running in the otherdirection, a connecting-bar pivotally secured to the two slidablecarriers, a length-adjusting turnbuckle on said connecting-bar as andfor the purpose specified.

3. In a device of the class described the combination with theintersecting rails having the diagonally-extending openings at theirangles of intersection, the simultaneously-operated sliding carriers andthe auxiliary splicingpieces carried thereby, of stops secured to thebase at the four angles of the diamond, said stops having facesextending parallel with both sets of rails whereby the extent of the Imotion of said sliding carriers is limited and the auxiliarysplicing-pieces are brought into correct register with the railsas andfor the purpose specified.

t. In adevice of the class described the combination with abase-piece',of two pairs of parallel rail-sections secured thereto inclosing adiamond or square-shaped space, diagonallydisposed openings being leftat the four corners of said space, diagonally-extending carriersslidablymounted on the base and extending into said openings, guides forthe carriers secured to the base, auxiliary splicing-pieces secured tothe carriers, a connecting-bar pivotally secured at its ends to saidslidable carriers, a length-adjusting turnbuckle on said connecting-bar,stops secured to the base, said stops having faces extending parallelwith both sets of rails and adapted to limit the extent of the motion ofthe auxiliary splicingpieces, so as to bring said splicing-pieces intocorrect register with the ends of the rails as and for the purposespecified.

Signed at the city of St. Thomas, in the Province of Ontario, this 10thday of October,

ANDREW B. INGRAM. THOMAS HEARD. Witnesses:

CHARLES FRANCIS MAXWELL, J r., EDITH J ESSIE BLACK.

